Motorists will have to endure an additional 12 months of nerve-breaking traffic on the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonsoki-Ojota highway for the rehabilitation of the road to be completed, according to the federal government.
Driving on the highway has been a huge nightmare for motorists since the reconstruction commenced on November 17, 2018.
Similarly, there has been traffic lockdown in the Iganmu area of Lagos over the years and joint efforts by the Lagos state government and other federal agencies to tackle the problem have not yielded any lasting solution.
Inspecting the rehabilitation of the highway on Sunday, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, announced that the project would be completed by the end of 2020.
Fashola, who inspected the project alongside the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said the federal government is committed to the speedy completion of the highway to provide a lasting solution to the problems of bad roads and gridlock.
He said the road reconstruction is creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs and at the same time, advancing commerce because of the local content going into the work.
Fashola explained that the project is creating wealth with thousands of trucks conveying iron rods, cement and other locally-sourced raw materials to sites where some 650 people were directly employed on various projects.
“Businesses have started coming back on Liverpool Road because the road closed earlier is now back. You will see more of that. All of the businesses that are shut on Creek Road will come back. We expect to see property redevelopment and property renewal once the road is completed.
“Once the economy of Apapa returns, all the clearing and forwarding, shipping, newspaper companies and all others doing business will resume fully and the economy will bounce back.’’
He commended the private public partnership scheme with Dangote, which is expected to execute road construction from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) through various areas to the old toll gate at Ojota, near Lagos.
The minister pointed out that section two of the project, which is not part of the original contract is already showing signs of failure due to heavy traffic.
“We are at the Oshodi area now and one side has been concluded and opened to traffic and this is how we intend to continue to complete and open, until we finish the entire road,’’ he explained.
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Fashola however, appealed for understanding of road users as the roads go through curing process, saying that President Buhari’s mandate is to build long-lasting and enduring roads.
Also speaking, Dangote lamented that the congestion at the ports, caused by gridlock has resulted to his group losing about N25 billion in accruable revenue from 2017 to the 2019 financial year.
He lauded the quality of work taking place on the road, saying that the development is reviving commerce in the Apapa area.
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